Skyline logging system



April 8 1924.

' C. E. M FARLANE SKYLINE LOGGING SYSTEM Filed March 1, 3.923 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Charles E.Mac mm C. E. M FARLANE SKYLINE LOGGING SYSTEM Filed March 1, 1923 3 Sheets- Sheet 2 Chum-3s ,Mac: 572M206 MKMMW flnomqft April 8 1924. 1,489,448

C. E. M FARLANE SKYLINE LOGGING SYSTEM Filed March 1 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Apr. 8, 1924.

v UNITED CHARLES E. MAerAnL nE, or gamma, wrsfimawoa,

SKYLINE Loorernesi zsrnm.

Application file-(1mm. 1 was. seri'n it xz'aooa To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES EMACFAR- LANE, a citizen of the United 7 States of America, and resident of the city of Seattle, in the county of King and State. of lVashington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in SkylineLogging Systems, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to logging systems, and particularly to the type which employs sky lines or elevated cables along which a log-supporting carriage is hauled. My invention is equally applicable to thefixed or the slack skyline systems of logging, and in the accompanyin drawings I havesho-wn itin' connection. .wit a system of each type. It is an object of my invention to provide a sky line logging system in which the tail end of the sky line maybe easily and quickly shifted laterally. In so doing'it is'my intention generally to employ a cross cable from which the tail end is shiftable laterally of the trackway cable. connection with such systems, torso rig the sky line, its supports and guys, that practically all strain is removed from the cross cable in directions longitudinally of the trackway cable, that is, laterally of the position of the cross cable.

A further object is the provision of .such

' a system in which the sky line may be quickly and easily shifted from one tail hold 7 to another, and will automatically, adjustv itself to the new position along the cross cable. a j I ,7 w A A further object is the provision of such a system by means of which a tailhold may be shifted from one side to the other of a mast which supports the cross cable inter-- mediate its ends with great facility.

A still further object is the provision ofa sky line systemwhich may be employed for logging in broken country and in laces where it would ordinarily not beffeasi lea) employ a sky line by reason of the'position of the donkey engine beyondja hump ojrihill from the tail s ppo t, r bifilieiix aj. ability tosecureafixedtailmastatthe place. I H I e i I'ivel t'ionincojr'mectlon.withwhat is'known where such a mast isdesired,

same.

It is my object, in.

gg g ys em,t e s ift- 112 n ea is therefor, and so much ofthefsysteni as is shown in the accompanying drawings," b i the p ifi at n, dn it sur larly defined in the dannsjte ifiatin the In the accompanying drawings Ilhave' shown my system in operation under various conditionsand illustrated also in connection with both a slack and a fixed I sky line, all 1n forms now preferred by me.

Figure 1 is a plan view of'a logging systememploying my invention in conjunction with aslack trackway' cable system.

Figure 2 is a detail or the an hold of the same system, illustrating particularly a manner of shiftingtail holds from oneposi tlo n tO another. Y

Figure 3' isfan elevation looking in the d rection of the cross cable'and illustrating.

the .tailihold andthe rigging for shifting the same. 7 Q

4 Figure l is a perspectiveview showing my system employed in connection with a hired kylineSyStQ in rough d- M'y invention is herein illustrated and scribed asparticularly applied to' thelogging systems shown in Patent No;1,151,299

to'Shaw, and my own Patent No. 1,019,170;

Itwill be understood, however, that this is merely for purposesof illustration and that the particular system employed forhandling thelo-gs is relatively unimportant, except as I will bepointed out hereinafter, and defined: V

in the'claiins.

My present invention consists of an im-' proved means for providing a tail hold for V line "systems, or for other systems if de-.

sired, by means .of which. the tail hold may beis if d la e yfls that in, all ages the 8 m y e pibkei p ben h y line without. swinging the line or carrying the fall block .any. appreciable distance to one side or thJ Olh1! of the main sky. line;

is ofadvantage in two ways, first in eliminating the work and troubleof swing i'ng'or carryingthe fall block. to'one side of the main line, with consequent entanglement of the lines,and Secon in enabling the work to be done atfajgreater rate of speedthan hy the employment of systems fwhich necessitatea tedious andtimeconsumin'g shifting 1 m sfi to am n 3, I have shown my a's'th e Mara-rims "sky-line system, illustrated in myl etentN .1, 19, f .111 his ys e fly; y' e y use 92% antenna-ethane running over a block upon the head mast 90 to a drum of a donkey engine 93. A haulback line 94, secured to the carriage 91, is suitably guided in blocks 95 and returns to a drum of the donkey engine 93. The skyline 9 in this particular system is intended to be slacked oif to lower the carriage 91.

Instead of the ordinary tail mast I substitute therefor a cross cable 1 which I shall terrn, in this instance, thetail cable. This is stretched between several 'masts 1O, of which there may be and preferably are more than two, so that there is provided a rnast to support the tail cable 1 intermediate as well as at its ends. The terminal masts 10 are, of course, suitably guyed to provide against strains longitudinally of the tail cable 1. These masts, however, may be five hundred feet or more apart and it would be impossible to guy them in such manner as to properly compensate for strain 7 in the tail cable 1' laterally thereof. a

A carriage 2 is movable along the tail cable 1 between any two of the masts 10.- This carriage 2, which is shown in detail in-Figure 3, is providedwith means for supporting the tail end of thesky line 9., I have shown the carriage as providedwith a shoe 22 depending therefrom and, receiving" a stub line 3 which, with an anchor line 4:, forms in effect a continuation of the sky line 9. I desire, however, that the sky line terminate just short of .the carriage 2 and ble 1 and. may adjust itself freely therethat the stub line be suitably connected thereto, as by a releasable shackle 31. I also prefer, that the stub line 3 be remo'vably connectedto theanchor lined, as by a second shackle 32. The purpose for this will appear later.

p y The carriage 2, 'it will 'be' noted,is sup ported by rollers21 freely rotatableso that the carriage may travel alongthe tailqcaalong in accordance with the stresses placed upon it. The system isyshown in Figure 1 with the anchor line 4:, which is connected to an anchoring stump. 41, the stubv line 3, and the sky line 9, as forming a continuous straight line and in this manner determin-' ing the position of the carriage 2 length-.- wise of the tail cable 1. Obviously if, in-

steadof the stump 11 forming ,theanchor,

a stumpl3 were selected at one. side of. the.

stump 4:1, and sky line, the stub line and the anchor line: would be shifted into anewv straight, line, as indicated. by. the dotted line in Figure 1, and'thecarriage 2. would then automatically move along thetailcable 1 to take up a newnposition in this straight liner I I have shown, in 4 Figure, 3, a shifting means whichmay be employedwhenlt 1s desired to change the tail hold to a newposition. This comprisesa slack pulling line 5, one end of which is passed through a block 25 upon the carriage 2 and thence to a connection with the end of the sky line, as, for instance, at the shackle 31, and the other end of which is connected to the haul-in line lineand anchoring line, which have been slackened, may be disconnected at the shackle 32. The skyline 1s then 'slacked off,

and theslack pulling line 5 disconnectedf To the shackle 32 is'now connected one end of a shifting line 6. The other end of this shifting line is connected to-the haul-in line 92,017, like the slack pulling line 5, to

the carriage 91. Between its ends the shift ing line is passed through ablock 62 which is placed at the new tail. hold, as, for instance, the'stump 13 These connections are best illustrated in Figures 2 and 3. By now hauling in on the shifting line 6 the end of the stub line 3. willbe, shifted later? ally to its new position asindicated by the:

dotted lines in 'Figures 1 and 2, and the new anchor line 4,,which had been previ-' ously prepared, may then be attached to the.

shackle at the end of the stub line. a The shifting line 6 may thenbe disconnected.

As the. shifting line 6 was hauled tight, thecarriage 2 was pulled alongthe cross cable land automaticallyassumed a new position thereonin the straight line ofthe sky line.

It will be noted that the actual tail hold that is. the anchor stump as 11' i or: 4-3, to which the end of the sky line is connected through the stub line 3 and the anchor line 4, is well'beyond the cross cable 1 and ordinarily isbelow the level thereof. Through this combined stub line-and anchor line all stresses in the direction of the skyline are resisted and all lateral stresses upon; the tail'cable 1 areremoved, The tail ca ble 1 therefore has only the weight/of the carriage 1, augmented attimes through the vertically downward component of the stress along thesky line, to support.

hen it is'desired' to shift the tail hold from one side totliebther of an intermediate mast 10, it, is necessary only to provide aduplicate carriage upon the opposite side Y of this mast,the-duplicate,carriagebe ngf riggedwith a stub, line 31 running through its shoe 22, and thento connect the shifting I line6 to theshackle31 insteadof the shackle 32. VVhenthe line is hauled in the sky line is brought up to a connection with the new} stub 'line 3. In this manner shifting from one side to the other of an intermed ate mast is practicall as snn le as in shiftm -fro-m.

lcl t 4130 one tail he 0 anoti er along the cable a point.

In Figure 4 I have illustrated myinvention in a slightly different form, asapplied to the North Bend system, shown inthe Shaw patent referred to heretofore. It will be seen from this view that it was desirable to provide a'tail support for the fixed sky line 9 at a point which,by reason of a gulley was at some considerable elevation above the surface of the earth at this The system, in the illustration, is also rigged with the donkey out of sight beyond a ridge on the near side of a small ,valley, a second cross line '11 is rigged between two masts 12 at about the ridge of this hump. An open-side carriage is movable along the cross cable 11' and the log carriage 91 is movable past the, open face of the carriage 24. 7' This form of carriage being relatively common, and" as it forms no part of my invention, I have not deemed it necessary to illustrate it in more detail.

By shifting the position of the stub line 3 and its attached anchor line in this form,

not only the carriage 2 is shifted but also the carriage 24, automatically, as the sky line 9 is tensioned in its new line. Such a ring enables an operator to pick up logs in quite rough territory and without the necessity of shifting the donkey for each hump or rise of ground.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. The combination with a ,trackway cable, of an elevated cross cable, for supporting the trackway cable, and means for relieving the cross cable of strains in the direction of the trackway cable.

2. A tail support for an elevated cableway comprising a transversely extending elevated cable and an anchor line connected with the cableway. V

3. A tail support for an elevated cableway comprising a transversely extending elevated cable, an anchor line and a support for the cableway movable along said transverse line.

4:. The combination with a trackway cable, of a transversely extending elevated tail cable, a carriage .movable along saidtail cable, and supporting the trackway cable, and a tail anchor line connecting said carriage with a fixed anchor beyond the tail cable. I,

5. The combination with a trackway cable, of an elevated transversely extending tail cable, a carriage sup-porting the tail end of the trackway cable, and movable along the tail cable, and a line passing through said ca'rriageg'and connected at one end to a fixed anchor beyond the tail cable, and atf its other end to the trackway cable 6. In combination, a trackway cable, a transversely extending elevated tail cable, a carriage movable along the tail cable, a

stub line passing through said carriage, and

connerted'at one end to the tail end of the trackway cable, and an anchor line secured to the other end of said stub line, and se cured at its other end to a fixed anchor I '7 beyond the tail cable. 7 7. In combination, a trackway cable," a

transversely extending elevated tail cable,

a' carriage movablealong the tail cable, 'a I stub line passing through said carriage, andconnected atone end to the tail end of the trackway cable, and an anchor line secured to the other end of said stub line, and secured at its other end to a fixed anchor beyond th'e tail cable, a slack-pulling line passing through said carriage, and connected at one end to the tail end of the trackway cable, a haul-in line paralleling said trackway cable,

said slack-pulling line passing through "a block and thence'returning and secureable to sald haul-in line. I 8. In combination, a tra c-kwa-y cable, a

transversely extending elevated tailcable, a

carriage movable along the tail cable, said trackway cable terminating short of the'carriage, a stub line supported from saidcarriage, and connected at one end to the tail end of the trackway cable, an anchor line connecting its other end to a fixed anchor beyond the tail line, means for slac-king ofi' the connection between said stub" line and anchor line to permit their disengagement, and a shifting line secureable tothe then free end of the stub line, and "running i through a block at a new anchor to a power source, to effect. the shifting of the trackway cable to a new position.

9. Means for shifting the tail support of a cableway system which includes a transversely extending tail cable, a trackway cable having itstail end supported therefrom and movable therealong, and a haul-in line paralleling said trackway cable, which means comprises a shifting line connected at one end to said haul-in line, and a block beyond the tail line receiving said shifting line and anchored at a new position of the tail support, the other end of said shifting line being connected to the end of said trackway cable, and a slack-pulling line connected at one end to the tail end of the trackway cable, thence passing through said carriage, a fixedblock through which the slack pulling line passes, being then fastened to the haul-in line.

10. An end support for a cableway comprising an elevated cable extending transversely of the line of the main cable, a support for the main cable carried by and movable along said transverse cable and an anchor line adapted for connection with the main cable.

11. In combination, a trackway cable, a transversely elevated tail cable, another cross line intermediate the ends of the trackway cable, a carriage movable'along each of said cross lines, and supporting the trackway cable therefrom, and means for anchoring the tail endof said trackway cable beyond said tail cable.

12. In combination, a trackway cable, laterally shiftable means for anchoring its tail end, a cross cable intermediate its ends, a carriage movable freely therealon and supporting the trackwa-y cable, saic carriage being automatically shiftable laterally as the tail support and anchor are shifted laterally. I

13. The combination with an elevatedcableway including a carriage and means for operating it upon said cableway, of an end support for the cableway comprising a transversely extending elevated cable, an anchor line connected with the main line, a support for the anchor line carried by and movable along the said transverse line, and means operable by the carriage to slacken the anchor connection whereby it may be resecured at a new location.

14. The combination with an elevated cableway including a carriage and means for operating it upon said cableway, of an end support for the cableway comprising at-ransversely extending elevated cable, an anchor line connected with themain line, a support for the anchor line carried by and movable along the said transverse line, and means for laterally shifting the anchorage comprising a line secureable by one end to the end of the cableway main line and by its other end to the carriage.

15. The method of laterally shifting a sky line, and an anchor line extending beyond the skyline, which method comprises operating a slack-pulling line through said travelling lines to produce slack in the anchor line beyond said cross lines, disconnecting said anchor line and skyline, and in then operating a shifting line connecting the skyline with the new support, by means of a connection with the travelling lines.

16. The method of laterally shifting a skyline support about an intermediate mast in a cableway system comprising a skyline, a cross cable supporting an end of the skyline and supported from the masts, and carriages thereon between each pair of masts, a log'carria-ge movable alonggthe skyline, log carriage control lines, and an anchor line connected to the skyline inwardly of the cross cable carriage, which method comprises operating a slack-pulling line with said log carriage control lines, to produce slack in the anchor line to permit disconnecting the. anchor line from the skyline inward from the cross cable carriage, operating a shifting line connecting the log carriage control lines and the end of the skyline with a carriage on the opposite side of an intermediate mast, and then connecting a new anchor" line through the latter carriage to the end of the skyline.

Signed at Seattle, King County, Washington, this 23rd day of February, 1923.

CHARLES E. V MAQFARLANE. 

